Praxis: PLT Exam Questions and
Answers
Who is Jean Piaget? - Answers -Swiss psychologist who developed theory of cognitive
development.
What did Piaget believe about learning? - Answers -Believed that learning happens as
people adapt to their environments.
How does cognitive development proceed according to Piaget? - Answers -When faced
with a situation, you first try to use or apply what you already know, and if that doesn't
work, you figure out something else based on what's new or different about that
situation.
What is Piaget's schema? - Answers -Your existing framework
What is Piaget's assimilation? - Answers -Applying new ideas to the existing schema.
What is Piaget's adaptation? - Answers -Developing new frameworks.
What are the four stages of cognitive development according to Piaget? - Answers -1)
sensorimotor (app. age 0 - 2 years) 2) preoperational (app. age 2 - 7 years) 3) concrete
operational (app. age 7 - 11 years) 4) formal operational (app. age 11 - to adulthood)
What is the sensorimotor stage? - Answers -Early development of goal-oriented
behavior (such as trying to roll over to reach a ball) and object permanence - the
concept that things continue to exist even though you can't see them.
What is the preoperational stage? - Answers -Children are developing language skills.
Use symbols to represent objects. They will be able to follow directions, but they will not
be able to reverse them, They have difficulty dealing with more than one problem at a
time and they have difficulty seeing things from another person's point of view (aka
Egocentrism).
What is the concrete operational stage? - Answers -They are able to develop the ability
to perform a mental operation and then reverse their thinking back to the starting point
(reversibility). They can classify objects according to a specific characteristic, even if the
object has many different characteristics (transitivity). They can put objects in order
according to a given criterion such as heigh or volume (seriation). They also understand
conservation (the idea that amount of a substance doesn't change just because it's
arranged differently). Usually, a child could solve concrete, hands on problem logically.
, What is the formal operational stage? - Answers -This stage is characterized by the
ability to solve abstract problems involving many independent elements. The ability to
frame and solve such problems is called hypothetical-deductive reasoning.
What is a schema? - Answers -Existing framework of ideas
What is assimilation? - Answers -Adding ideas to your existing framework
What is adaptation? - Answers -Developing new frameworks
What is object-permanence? - Answers -The concept that things continue to exist even
though you can't see them.
What is goal-oriented behavior? - Answers -Behavior that helps someone reach a goal.
May start developing at the sensorimotor stage.
What is egocentrism? - Answers -Having difficulty seeing things from another person's
point of view.
What is reversibility? - Answers -Reverse their thinking back to the starting point.
What is transitivity? - Answers -Can classify objects according to a specific
characteristic, even if the object has many different characteristics.
What is seriation? - Answers -Can put objects in order according to a given criterion
such as height or volume.
What is conservation? - Answers -The idea that the amount of a substance doesn't
change just because it's arranged differently.
What is class-inclusion? - Answers -They can think about a whole group of objects while
also thinking about the subgroups of those objects.
What is hypothetical-deductive reasoning? - Answers -The ability to solve abstract
problems involving many independent elements - thought process necessary to frame
and solve such problems.
Who was Vygotsky? - Answers -Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist in the early
20th century.
What are the four ideas of Vygotsky? - Answers -1) the importance of culture 2) the role
of private speech 3) the zone of proximal development 4) scaffolding
Vygotsky on Culture: - Answers -Argued that environment and culture dictate what
methods the children will find useful, and what their priorities will be.
Answers
Who is Jean Piaget? - Answers -Swiss psychologist who developed theory of cognitive
development.
What did Piaget believe about learning? - Answers -Believed that learning happens as
people adapt to their environments.
How does cognitive development proceed according to Piaget? - Answers -When faced
with a situation, you first try to use or apply what you already know, and if that doesn't
work, you figure out something else based on what's new or different about that
situation.
What is Piaget's schema? - Answers -Your existing framework
What is Piaget's assimilation? - Answers -Applying new ideas to the existing schema.
What is Piaget's adaptation? - Answers -Developing new frameworks.
What are the four stages of cognitive development according to Piaget? - Answers -1)
sensorimotor (app. age 0 - 2 years) 2) preoperational (app. age 2 - 7 years) 3) concrete
operational (app. age 7 - 11 years) 4) formal operational (app. age 11 - to adulthood)
What is the sensorimotor stage? - Answers -Early development of goal-oriented
behavior (such as trying to roll over to reach a ball) and object permanence - the
concept that things continue to exist even though you can't see them.
What is the preoperational stage? - Answers -Children are developing language skills.
Use symbols to represent objects. They will be able to follow directions, but they will not
be able to reverse them, They have difficulty dealing with more than one problem at a
time and they have difficulty seeing things from another person's point of view (aka
Egocentrism).
What is the concrete operational stage? - Answers -They are able to develop the ability
to perform a mental operation and then reverse their thinking back to the starting point
(reversibility). They can classify objects according to a specific characteristic, even if the
object has many different characteristics (transitivity). They can put objects in order
according to a given criterion such as heigh or volume (seriation). They also understand
conservation (the idea that amount of a substance doesn't change just because it's
arranged differently). Usually, a child could solve concrete, hands on problem logically.
, What is the formal operational stage? - Answers -This stage is characterized by the
ability to solve abstract problems involving many independent elements. The ability to
frame and solve such problems is called hypothetical-deductive reasoning.
What is a schema? - Answers -Existing framework of ideas
What is assimilation? - Answers -Adding ideas to your existing framework
What is adaptation? - Answers -Developing new frameworks
What is object-permanence? - Answers -The concept that things continue to exist even
though you can't see them.
What is goal-oriented behavior? - Answers -Behavior that helps someone reach a goal.
May start developing at the sensorimotor stage.
What is egocentrism? - Answers -Having difficulty seeing things from another person's
point of view.
What is reversibility? - Answers -Reverse their thinking back to the starting point.
What is transitivity? - Answers -Can classify objects according to a specific
characteristic, even if the object has many different characteristics.
What is seriation? - Answers -Can put objects in order according to a given criterion
such as height or volume.
What is conservation? - Answers -The idea that the amount of a substance doesn't
change just because it's arranged differently.
What is class-inclusion? - Answers -They can think about a whole group of objects while
also thinking about the subgroups of those objects.
What is hypothetical-deductive reasoning? - Answers -The ability to solve abstract
problems involving many independent elements - thought process necessary to frame
and solve such problems.
Who was Vygotsky? - Answers -Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist in the early
20th century.
What are the four ideas of Vygotsky? - Answers -1) the importance of culture 2) the role
of private speech 3) the zone of proximal development 4) scaffolding
Vygotsky on Culture: - Answers -Argued that environment and culture dictate what
methods the children will find useful, and what their priorities will be.
